Morning at Seward Park and the big exctiment of what we spotted

 

Here was part one of this series in case you missed it Another beautiful morning with so much to see!

 

There is a 2.5 mile loop around Seward Park.  D'light and I often do this loop as there's always so much to see and do!  If you do this loop anytime after 9am it's very busy.  But, getting to Seward Park before most people are awake often gives us the loop to ourselves. As you will soon see it's well worth getting up so early.

 

  

Lots of water lilies

 

 

 

 

Then D'light spots it and we go into "sneak"

 

 

 

Here's why the "sneak" cue is awesome. We stood and watched breakfast happen.

 

 

 

 

Time for a 2nd meal

 

 

 

Gotcha!

 

 

 

And meal number 3!

 

 

 

We move on and again D'light spot something...

 

 

 

I thought it was an otter as we see lots of them at Seward Park

 

 

 

Then I saw his back which was so broad and then his tail and I realized it was our first beaver spotting!   I was so excited!

 

 

 

He found something under the water to perch on

 

 

 

 

The he sees us and his face cracks me up

 

 

 

He goes back to eating his breakfast

 

 

 

 

And then off he went...

 

 

 

What made him move on was the stand up paddle boarder

 

 

 

D'light says "Pay me for sneak!"

 

 

 

We move on and spot this heron. 

We see lots of heron at least 2 each trip sometimes up to 8.

 

 

 

We continue on the loop

 

 

 

We round the loop and we have a bunch of could coverage and it's a bit windy.

 

There are lots of little paths down to the water.  With many of them there is one way in and out. So, I often take off D'light's harness so he gets use to having it put on and off in different places.  I do the same thing with the leash while we walk the loop.  I do this so that when we go new places, the getting off and on/hooked and unhooked doesn't create a lot of stress for him.

 

 

 

D'light watching the wind blow the moss around the stump

 

 

 

We find some great logs to investigate

 

 

 

Sun coming up and here come the camera flares.

 

 

 

Time to move on

 

 

 

"How about a treat?!"

 

 

 

Off we go and D'light likes this tree!

 

 

He often checks it out and I'd guess critters run up, down and around this tree.

 

 

 

"No critters"

 

 

 

Off we go

 

 

 

Pretty flowers along the shore

 

 

 

I have us walk on as many surfaces as possible. This again part of our environmental work plan. D'light has made lots of progress over the last two years.

 

 

 

We make it to his favorite section of the park...

 

 

 

Scanning for squirrels

 

 

Critter face

 

 

 

"If I get up higher maybe I can see them!"

 

 

 

Another favorite spot are picnic shelters.  Squirrels hang out close by as the garbage cans are full of picnic garbage.

 

 

 

And he chased a squirrel off the garbage can and up the tree!

 

 

 

"Come down and play!"

 

 

Time to head back to the car and let Viva have her turn of fun at Seward Park.

 

 

 

 

Another beautiful morning with so much to see!

The dogs and I get up early... between 4 and 5am. 

 

I started doing this last fall so that I could get Viva out and about since we don't have a secured fenced yard.  I  also wanted her to have some environmental enrichment before we are gone for an 8 hour work day.

 

I'm a morning person by nature but, getting up before dawn was early for me.  But, getting up that early has huge benefits. It's something I wouldn't have had experienced without Viva.  Below is a little sliver of what the benefits are to getting up and out so early. I will forever thank Viva for all that we experience thanks to our early morning adventures.

 

Good morning!!

 

If you are 5 minutes early or 5 minutes late you would have missed this.

 

 

 

 

 

We spend most of our early morning at Seward Park.  D'light also has Viva to thank because he also comes along.  I take the dogs separately for about 45 minutes to an hour each.  Neither dog is high energy and we spend a lot of time just walking around taking in the environment. It's worked out great for all three of us!

 

 

The first dog out usually sees the most so I take turns as to who goes first.  It's Viva's turn and there was a lot to see and with just a few people sightings it was very quiet.

 

 

The sunrise created some amazing sights for me while Viva rooted around.

 

 

 

"Smells great!"

 

 

 

 

I love this picture!

 

 

There were a lot of birds out and Viva has really done well with learning to watch them rather than chase them.  All that impulse control training over the last year has paid off!

 

 

"Time to see what else is going on!"

 

 

 

So much to investigate and so beautiful!

 

 

 

Come fall the light and clouds produce a wide range of colors.  The colors can and do change in the matter of minutes.

 

 

 

 

"Birds!"

 

 

 

 

Good girl Viva!

 

 

 

After a food reward for just watching the ducks she goes back to watching.

 

 

"Where are you going?! Because of you I get fabulous treats so come back"

 

 

 

She found lots of interesting smells on this log

 

 

 

Sweet pretty Viva

 

 

 

We move on and I see this crow just hanging out on the large rock.

 

 

 

Both Viva and D'light have mastered to cue of "sneak".  This cue means to stand quietly and wait while I take some pictures.  I give the cue, I take pictures and then when I'm done the dog gets a food reinforcer.  It's a win win for everyone.

 

 

I love taking pictures of crows. However their dark color proves a challenge for a good picture.

 

 

 

Today was a good crow photo day

 

 

 

 

"Why are you still there staring at me?"

 

 

 

We move on and as Viva sniffs around I take more pictures

 

 

 

 

We hear a bunch of loud squawking.

 

The crows mad at something...

 

 

 

With the wet grass and the bright sun, I started snapping shots.

 

 

I still hear the squawking and wow here comes the clouds and fog

 

 

 

Now the fog and clouds are rolling in and the crows are mad!

 

 

 

Four crows after one Cooper's Hawk.  Over the last week we've seen and heard an increase in the amount of Cooper's Hawk at Seward Park.  This morning I counted seven sightings different Cooper's Hawk.

 

 

Mad, mad mad!

 

 

 

As the crows and Cooper's Hawk are chasing each other we spy a great blue heron flying by us

 

 

 

When we turn around the fog is thick but the sun sure is trying to break through!

 

 

 

Crows and Cooper's Hawk still at it and they are loud!

 

 

 

Off they go and here comes the blue sky

 

 

 

 

Time go as I have to get home and get ready for work!

 

 

 

 

As we headed home, I had to stop!

 

Do you see it... An Osprey on the top of the sail mast

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for the next adventure with D'light being the first to explore Seward Park.

 

 

 

Back to blogging

We've been so busy over the summer that I've been on blog break. The break hasn't stopped us from having lots of fun adventures with everyone. Those adventures included trips to Whidbey Island, Port Angels, multiple trips to Oregon and general silly terrier fun.

 

Viva is doing great and she's had a fantastic summer.  But, the dog days of summer are coming to an end and fall will soon arrive. 

 

Smiling Viva

 

 

 

Nice relaxed gal

 

 

 

Big yawn!

 

 

Back to rest time

 

 

 

One more fabulous picture

 

 

 

And off the sleep she goes

 

 

 

Stay tuned as I work to play catch up with blogging about the three goofy terriers in our lives!